Polymer and organic electronic device

ABSTRACT

A composition comprising a polymer and a phosphorescent material wherein the polymer comprises repeat units of formula (I): 
     
       
         
         
             
             
         
       
     
     wherein A is a heteroaryl group containing a nitrogen atom, and A may be unusubstituted or substituted with one or more substituents;
     R 1  in each occurrence is independently a substituent; and   n is 0, 1, 2, 3 or 4.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority to United Kingdom Patent ApplicationNo.: 1223083.1, filed on Dec. 21, 2012, the entirety of which isincorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Electronic devices containing active organic materials are attractingincreasing attention for use in devices such as organic light emittingdiodes (OLEDs), organic photoresponsive devices (in particular organicphotovoltaic devices and organic photosensors), organic transistors andmemory array devices. Devices containing active organic materials offerbenefits such as low weight, low power consumption and flexibility.Moreover, use of soluble organic materials allows use of solutionprocessing in device manufacture, for example inkjet printing orspin-coating.

An OLED may comprise a substrate carrying an anode, a cathode and one ormore organic light-emitting layers between the anode and cathode.

Holes are injected into the device through the anode and electrons areinjected through the cathode during operation of the device. Holes inthe highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) and electrons in thelowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) of a light-emitting materialcombine to form an exciton that releases its energy as light.

A light emitting layer may comprise a semiconducting host material and alight-emitting dopant wherein energy is transferred from the hostmaterial to the light-emitting dopant. For example, J. Appl. Phys. 65,3610, 1989 discloses a host material doped with a fluorescentlight-emitting dopant (that is, a light-emitting material in which lightis emitted via decay of a singlet exciton).

Phosphorescent dopants are also known (that is, a light-emitting dopantin which light is emitted via decay of a triplet exciton).

A hole-transporting layer may be provided between the anode andlight-emitting layer of an OLED.

Suitable light-emitting materials include small molecule, polymeric anddendrimeric materials. Suitable light-emitting polymers includepoly(arylene vinylenes) such as poly(p-phenylene vinylenes) and polymerscontaining arylene repeat units, such as fluorene repeat units. Bluelight-emitting fluorene homopolymer is disclosed in WO 97/05184.

WO 2010/085676 discloses host materials for electrophosphorescentdevices. A copolymer formed by copolymerization of1,6-bis(3-(4,4,5,5-tetramethyl-[1,3,2]-dioxaborolan-2-yl)phenoxyl)hexaneand2-(4-(3-(3,6-dibromocarbazol-9-yl)propyl)phenyl)-4,6-di(3-methylphenyl)-1,3,5-triazineis disclosed.

WO 2008/025997 discloses the following monomer for use in preparation ofa polymeric host:

WO 2010/136109 discloses the following intermediate compound:

Dibenzosilole polymers and applications in organic electronics aredisclosed in Journal of Material Chemistry (2011), 21(32), 11800-11814.

Gaofenzi Xuebao (2009), (11), 1120-1125 discloses a polymer comprisingthe following monomers:

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In a first aspect the invention provides a composition comprising apolymer and a phosphorescent material wherein the polymer comprisesrepeat units of formula (I):

wherein A is a heteroaryl group containing a nitrogen atom, and A may beunusubstituted or substituted with one or more substituents;

R¹ in each occurrence is independently a substituent; and

n is 0, 1, 2, 3 or 4.

In a second aspect the invention provides a formulation comprising acomposition according to the first aspect and at least one solvent.

In a third aspect the invention provides an organic light-emittingdevice comprising an anode, a cathode and a light-emitting layer betweenthe anode and cathode wherein the light-emitting layer comprises acomposition according to the first aspect.

In a fourth aspect the invention provides a method of forming an organiclight-emitting device according to the third aspect comprising the stepof forming the light-emitting layer over one of the anode and thecathode and forming the other of the anode and the cathode over thelight-emitting layer.

Optionally according to the fourth aspect, the light-emitting layer isformed by depositing a formulation according to the third aspect andevaporating the at least one solvent.

In a fifth aspect the invention provides a polymer comprising a repeatunit of formula (III):

wherein:

R² is H or a substituent;

R¹ in each occurrence is independently a substituent; and

n is 0, 1, 2, 3 or 4.

Optionally according to the fifth aspect R² is an aromatic ring or abranched or linear chain of aromatic rings, wherein each ring may beunsubstituted or substituted with one or more substituents R⁴.

Optionally according to the fifth aspect R² is phenyl.

Optionally according to the fifth aspect each R⁴ is independentlyselected from the group consisting of C₁₋₂₀ alkyl wherein one or morenon-adjacent C atoms of the C₁₋₂₀ alkyl may be replaced with O or S andone or more H atoms of the C₁₋₂₀ alkyl may be replaced with F.

In a sixth aspect the invention provides a method of forming a polymercomprising the step of polymerising a monomer of formula (IV):

wherein LG is a leaving group capable of leaving in a coupling reactionto form a carbon-carbon bond with an aromatic or heteroaromatic group,and wherein R¹, R² and n are as described with reference to anypreceding aspect.

In a seventh aspect the invention provides a formulation comprising apolymer according to the fifth aspect and at least one solvent.

In an eighth aspect the invention provides an organic light-emittingdevice comprising an anode, a cathode and a light-emitting layer betweenthe anode and cathode wherein the light-emitting layer comprises apolymer according to the fifth aspect.

In a ninth aspect the invention provides a method of forming an organiclight-emitting device according to the eighth aspect comprising the stepof forming the light-emitting layer over one of the anode and thecathode and forming the other of the anode and the cathode over thelight-emitting layer.

Optionally according to the ninth aspect the light-emitting layer isformed by depositing a formulation according to the seventh aspect andevaporating the at least one solvent.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will now be described in more detail with reference to thedrawings in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates schematically an OLED according to an embodiment ofthe invention; and

FIG. 2 shows the photostability of a host polymer material according toan embodiment of the invention and a comparative host polymer material.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 illustrates an OLED 100 according to an embodiment of theinvention comprising an anode 101, a cathode 105 and a light-emittinglayer 103 between the anode and cathode. The device 100 is supported ona substrate 107, for example a glass or plastic substrate.

One or more further layers may be provided between the anode 101 andcathode 105, for example hole-transporting layers, electron transportinglayers, hole blocking layers and electron blocking layers. The devicemay contain more than one light-emitting layer.

Preferred device structures include:

Anode/Hole-injection layer/Light-emitting layer/Cathode

Anode/Hole transporting layer/Light-emitting layer/Cathode

Anode/Hole-injection layer/Hole-transporting layer/Light-emittinglayer/Cathode

Anode/Hole-injection layer/Hole-transporting layer/Light-emittinglayer/Electron-transporting layer/Cathode.

Preferably, at least one of a hole-transporting layer and hole injectionlayer is present.

Preferably, both a hole injection layer and hole-transporting layer arepresent.

Light-emitting materials include red, green and blue light-emittingmaterials.

A blue emitting material may have a photoluminescent spectrum with apeak in the range of no more than 490 nm, optionally in the range of420-480 nm.

A green emitting material may have a photoluminescent spectrum with apeak in the range of more than 490nm up to 580 nm, optionally more than490 nm up to 540 nm.

A red emitting material may optionally have a peak in itsphotoluminescent spectrum of more than 580 nm up to 630 nm, optionally585-625 nm.

Light-emitting layer 103 contains a polymer of the invention and one ormore phosphorescent materials, to form a host-dopant system. Thelight-emitting layer 103 may consist essentially of these materials ormay contain one or more further materials, for example one or morecharge-transporting materials or one or more further light-emittingmaterials. The triplet energy level of the host polymer is preferably nomore than 0.1 eV below that of the light-emitting material, and is morepreferably about the same or higher than that of the light-emittingmaterial in order to avoid quenching of phosphorescence from thelight-emitting dopant. Optionally, the lowest triplet energy level ofthe host polymer is at least at least 2.4 or at least 2.6 eV. Thetriplet energy level of the host polymer may be selected according tothe shortest wavelength phosphorescent material used with the host. Forexample, if a green phosphorescent material is the shortest wavelengthmaterial then the triplet energy level of the host material may be lowerthan that of a host for a blue phosphorescent material.

In a preferred embodiment, light-emitting layer 103 contains acomposition and a polymer of the invention and at least one of green andblue phosphorescent light-emitting materials.

If present, a charge-transporting layer adjacent to a phosphorescentlight-emitting layer preferably contains a charge-transporting materialhaving a T₁ excited state energy level that is no more than 0.1 eV lowerthan, preferably the same as or higher than, the T₁ excited state energylevel of the phosphorescent light-emitting material(s) of the inventionin order to avoid quenching of triplet excitons migrating from thelight-emitting layer into the charge-transporting layer.

Triplet energy levels may be measured from the energy onset of thephosphorescence spectrum measured by low temperature phosphorescencespectroscopy (Y. V. Romaovskii et al, Physical Review Letters, 2000, 85(5), p 1027, A. van Dijken et al, Journal of the American ChemicalSociety, 2004, 126, p 7718).

In a first aspect, the invention provides a composition comprising apolymer and a phosphorescent material wherein the polymer comprisesrepeat units of formula (I):

wherein A is a heteroaryl group containing a nitrogen atom, and whereinA may be unusubstituted or substituted with one or more substituents;

R¹ in each occurrence is independently a substituent; and

n is 0, 1, 2, 3 or 4.

A may be selected from the group consisting of triazine, pyrimidine,pyridine, triazole and oxadiazole.

A may be substituted with at least one substituent R².

Each R² may independently be a C₁₋₄₀ hydrocarbyl.

Exemplary C₁₋₄₀ hydrocarbyl groups include alkyl; aryl, preferablyphenyl; or a linear or branched chain of aryl groups, preferably alinear or branched chain of phenyl groups, that may be unsubstituted orsubstituted with one or more substituents. Exemplary hydrocarbylsubstituents include the following:

-   -   C₁₋₂₀ alkyl    -   Phenyl substituted with one or more C₁₋₂₀ alkyl groups    -   A branched or linear chain of two or more phenyl rings, each of        which ring may be substituted with one or more C₁₋₂₀ alkyl        groups, for example biphenyl or 3,5-diphenylbenzene.

Exemplary aromatic hydrocarbyl groups include the following, each ofwhich may be substituted with one or more substituents:

Exemplary groups R¹ include C₁₋₄₀ hydrocarbyl, —OR¹¹, —SR¹¹, —NR¹¹ ₂,and SiR¹¹ ₃, wherein R¹¹ in each occurrence is a substituent, preferablyC₁₋₄₀ hydrocarbyl.

Exemplary hydrocarbyl groups R¹ and R¹¹ include C₁₋₂₀ alkyl;unsubstituted phenyl; phenyl substituted with one or more C₁₋₂₀ alkylgroups; and a branched or linear chain of phenyl groups wherein eachphenyl is unsubstituted or substituted with one or more C₁₋₂₀ alkylgroups. C₁₋₂₀ alkyl is preferred.

One or more non-adjacent C atoms of R¹ and, where present, R² mayindependently be replaced with —O—, —S—, —NR¹¹—, —SiR¹¹ ₂—, C(═O) or—COO—.

Optionally, R² is a C₁₂₋₄₀ hydrocarbyl group containing two or more arylgroups, preferably two or more phenyl groups.

Alkyl groups as described anywhere herein includes linear, branched andcyclic alkyl groups. In the case of R², a C₃₋₂₀ branched alkyl group,including alkyl groups containing one or more C atoms selected fromsecondary and tertiary carbon atoms, may provide more steric hindranceand therefore a greater degree of twisting than a corresponding linearalkyl group.

In one embodiment the repeat unit of formula (I) has formula (Ia):

wherein:

X in each occurrence is independently selected from N and CR¹² whereinR¹² in each occurrence is independently H or a substituent, with theproviso that at least one X is N,

R² is a substituent as described above; and m is 0 or 1.

Each X of the repeat unit of formula (Ia) is preferably N.

Each R¹² is preferably selected from H and C₁₋₂₀ alkyl.

Exemplary repeat units of formula (I) are shown below, wherein R and R′in each occurrence is H or a substituent, preferably a C₁₋₂₀ alkyl.

The extent of conjugation of the substituent R² may affect the tripletenergy level of the polymer. In the case where R² contains a chain ofphenyl groups, para linkage between phenyl groups may result in agreater degree of conjugation than meta-linkage. In one embodiment, R²is a phenyl group wherein one or both meta-positions of the phenyl groupare substituted with an unsubstituted or substituted aryl or heteroarylgroup, preferably a phenyl group that may be unsubstituted orsubstituted with one or more C₁₋₂₀ alkyl groups.

In the case where R2 is a phenyl group that is further substituted withone or more aryl or heteroaryl groups, a substituent may be providedortho- to the aryl or heteroaryl substituent or substituents to create atwist between the phenyl and the aryl or heteroaryl substituents. In oneembodiment, R2 is a phenyl group having one or two phenylmeta-substituents, and a 4-substituent to create a twist between thephenyl group and the phenyl meta-substituents. Optionally, the4-substituent is selected from C₁₋₂₀ alkyl.

In one embodiment the polymer of the composition of the invention is acopolymer having a repeat unit of formula (I) and one or more co-repeatunits.

Exemplary co-repeat units include arylene co-repeat units that may beunsubstituted or substituted with one or more substituents. A preferredarylene co-repeat unit is a phenylene repeat unit that may beunsubstituted or substituted with one or more substituents.

In one preferred arrangement the one or more co-repeat units include aconjugation-breaking repeat unit, which is a repeat unit that does notprovide any conjugation path between repeat units adjacent to theconjugation-breaking repeat unit.

Exemplary conjugation-breaking co-repeat units include co-repeat unitsof formula (II):

wherein:

Ar¹ in each occurrence independently represents an aryl or heteroarylgroup that may be unsubstituted or substituted with one or moresubstituents; and

Sp represents a spacer group comprising at least one carbon or siliconatom.

Preferably Ar¹ is an aryl group and the Ar¹ groups may be the same ordifferent, more preferably each Ar¹ is phenyl.

Optionally, each Ar¹ is unsubstituted or substituted with one or moreC₁₋₄₀ hydrocarbyl groups as described above with reference to R², whichmay be the same or different in each occurrence.

Exemplary groups Sp include a C₁₋₂₀ alkyl chain wherein one or morenon-adjacent C atoms of the chain may be replaced with O, S, —NR¹¹—,—SiR¹¹ ₂—, —C(═O)— or —COO— and wherein R¹¹ in each occurrence is asdescribed above.

The phosphorescent material of the composition according to theinvention is preferably a metal complex.

In one arrangement the phosphorescent material of the compositionaccording to the invention is mixed with the polymer.

In another arrangement the phosphorescent material of the compositionaccording to the invention is covalently bound to the polymer. In thisarrangement, the phosphorescent material may be provided as a main-chainrepeat unit of the polymer backbone, an end-group of the polymer or aside-group of the polymer that may be directly bound to the polymerbackbone or spaced apart from the polymer backbone by a spacer group,for example a C₁₋₂₀ alkyl group.

Optionally, a photoluminescence spectrum of the phosphorescent materialhas a peak at a wavelength no more than 490 nm, optionally in the rangeof 420-575 nm, more preferably 420-480 nm.

In a further aspect the invention provides a formulation comprising acomposition according to the first aspect of the invention and at leastone solvent.

In another aspect, the invention provides an organic light-emittingdevice comprising an anode, a cathode and a light-emitting layer betweenthe anode and cathode wherein the light-emitting layer comprises acomposition according to the first aspect of the invention.

The invention also provides a method of forming an organiclight-emitting device according to the invention, comprising the step offorming the light-emitting layer over one of the anode and the cathodeand forming the other of the anode and the cathode over thelight-emitting layer.

Optionally, the light-emitting layer is formed by depositing aformulation according to the invention and evaporating the at least onesolvent.

In yet another aspect, the invention provides a polymer comprising arepeat unit of formula (III):

wherein:

R² is H or a substituent;

R¹ in each occurrence is independently a substituent; and

n is 0, 1, 2, 3 or 4.

In one arrangement R² is an aromatic group that may be unsubstituted orsubstituted with one or more sub stituents R⁴.

Preferably R² is phenyl that may be unsubstituted or substituted withone or more substituents.

Optionally each R⁴, where present, is independently selected from thegroup consisting of C₁₋₂₀ alkyl, wherein one or more non-adjacent Catoms of the C₁₋₂₀ alkyl may be replaced with O or S and one or more Hatoms of the C₁₋₂₀ alkyl may be replaced with F.

The invention further provides a method of forming the polymercomprising a repeat unit of formula (III), the method comprising thestep of polymerising a monomer of formula (IV):

wherein each LG is independently a leaving group capable of leaving in acoupling reaction to form a carbon-carbon bond with an aromatic orheteroaromatic group, and

R¹, R² and n are as described above.

Each LG is independently selected from the group consisting of halogens,preferably bromine or iodine; boronic acids; boronic esters; sulfonicacids; and sulfonic esters.

Optionally the polymerisation is carried out in the presence of a metalcatalyst.

The invention also provides a formulation and an organic light emittingdevice comprising a polymer comprising a repeat unit of formula (III)and a method of forming the organic light emitting device.

Polymers as described herein suitably have a polystyrene-equivalentnumber-average molecular weight (Mn) measured by gel permeationchromatography in the range of about 1×10³ to 1×10⁸, and preferably1×10³ to 5×10⁶. The polystyrene-equivalent weight-average molecularweight (Mw) of the polymers described herein may be 1×10³ to 1×10⁸, andpreferably 1×10⁴ to 1×10⁷.

Polymers described herein are suitably amorphous polymers.

Polymer Synthesis

One method of forming conjugated or partially conjugated polymers isSuzuki polymerisation, for example as described in WO 00/53656 or U.S.Pat. No. 5,777,070 which allows formation of C—C bonds between twoaromatic or heteroaromatic groups, and so enables formation of polymershaving conjugation extending across two or more repeat units. Suzukipolymerisation takes place in the presence of a palladium complexcatalyst and a base.

As illustrated in Scheme 1, in the Suzuki polymerisation process amonomer for forming repeat units RU1 having leaving groups LG1 such asboronic acid or boronic ester groups undergoes polymerisation with amonomer for forming repeat units RU2 having leaving groups LG2 such ashalogen, sulfonic acid or sulfonic ester to form a carbon-carbon bondbetween Arylene 1 and Arylene 2:

n LG1-RU1-LG1+n LG2-RU2-LG2→-(RU1-RU2)_(n)-

Scheme 1

Exemplary boronic esters have formula (V):

wherein R⁶ in each occurrence is independently a C₁₋₂₀ alkyl group, *represents the point of attachment of the boronic ester to an aromaticring of the monomer, and the two groups R⁶ may be linked to form a ring.In a preferred embodiment, the two groups R⁶ are linked to form thepinacol ester of boronic acid:

It will be understood by the skilled person that a monomer LG1-RU1-LG1will not polymerise to form a direct carbon-carbon bond with anothermonomer LG1-RU1-LG1. A monomer LG2-RU2-LG2 will not polymerise to form adirect carbon-carbon bond with another monomer LG2-RU2-LG2.

Preferably, one of LG1 and LG2 is bromine or iodine and the other is aboronic acid or boronic ester.

This selectivity means that the ordering of repeat units in the polymerbackbone can be controlled such that all or substantially all RU1 repeatunits formed by polymerisation of LG1-RU1-LG1 are adjacent, on bothsides, to RU2 repeat units.

In the example of Scheme 1 above, an AB copolymer is formed bycopolymerisation of two monomers in a 1:1 ratio, however it will beappreciated that more than two or more than two monomers may be used inthe polymerisation, and any ratio of monomers may be used.

The base may be an organic or inorganic base. Exemplary organic basesinclude tetra-alkylammonium hydroxides, carbonates and bicarbonates.Exemplary inorganic bases include metal (for example alkali or alkaliearth) hydroxides, carbonates and bicarbonates.

The palladium complex catalyst may be a palladium (0) or palladium (II)compound.

Particularly preferred catalysts aretetrakis(triphenylphosphine)palladium (0) and palladium (II) acetatemixed with a phosphine.

A phosphine may be provided, either as a ligand of the palladiumcompound catalyst or as a separate compound added to the polymerisationmixture. Exemplary phosphines include triarylphosphines, for exampletriphenylphosphines wherein each phenyl may independently beunsubstituted or substituted with one or more substituents, for exampleone or more C₁₋₅ alkyl or C₁₋₅ alkoxy groups.

Particularly preferred are triphenylphospine andtris(ortho-methoxytriphenyl) phospine.

The polymerisation reaction may take place in a single organic liquidphase in which all components of the reaction mixture are soluble. Thereaction may take place in a two-phase aqueous-organic system, in whichcase a phase transfer agent may be used. The reaction may take place inan emulsion formed by mixing a two-phase aqueous-organic system with anemulsifier.

The polymer may be end-capped by addition of an endcapping reactant.Suitable end-capping reactants are aromatic or heteroaromatic materialssubstituted with only one leaving group. The end-capping reactants mayinclude reactants substituted with a halogen for reaction with a boronicacid or boronic ester group at a polymer chain end, and reactantssubstituted with a boronic acid or boronic ester for reaction with ahalogen at a polymer chain end. Exemplary end-capping reactants arehalobenzenes, for example bromobenzene, and phenylboronic acid.End-capping reactants may be added during or at the end of thepolymerisation reaction.

Non-Conjugating Repeat Units

Ar¹ of formula (II) is preferably an aryl group, more preferablyphenylene. Phenylene groups Ar¹ may be 1,2- , 1,3- or 1,4-linkedphenylene, preferably 1,4-linked phenylene. Sp of formula (II) maycontain a single non-conjugating atom only between the two groups Ar¹,or Sp may contain non-conjugating chain of at least 2 atoms separatingthe two groups Ar¹.

A non-conjugating atom may be, for example, —CR⁴ ₂— or —SiR⁴ ₂— whereinR⁴ in each occurrence is H or a substituent, optionally a substituentR¹¹ as described above, for example C₁₋₂₀ alkyl.

A spacer chain Sp may contain two or more atoms separating the twogroups Ar¹, for example a C₁₋₂₀ alkyl chain wherein one or morenon-adjacent C atoms of the chain may be replaced with O, S, —NR₁₁—,—SiR₁₁ ²—, —C(═O)— or —COO—. Preferably, the spacer chain Sp contains atleast one sp³-hybridised carbon atom separating the two groups Ar¹.

Preferred groups Sp are selected from C₁₋₂₀ alkyl wherein one or morenon-adjacent C atoms are replaced with O. An oligo-ether chain, forexample a chain of formula —O(CH₂CH₂O)_(n)— may be provided, wherein nis from 1-5.

Repeat units of formula (II) may be provided in an amount in the rangeof 1-50 mol %, optionally 20-50 mol %. The polymer may contain two ormore different repeat units of formula (II).

Exemplary repeat units of formula (II) include the following:

Arylene Units

The polymer may contain arylene or heteroarylene repeat units, each ofwhich may be unsubstituted or substituted with one or more substituents,and charge-transporting repeat units containing aromatic orheteroaromatic groups.

Exemplary arylene co-repeat units include arylene repeat units, forexample 1,2-, 1,3- and 1,4-phenylene repeat units, 3,6- and 2,7-linkedfluorene repeat units, indenofluorene, naphthalene, anthracene andphenanthrene repeat units, and stilbene repeat units, each of which maybe unsubstituted or substituted with one or more substitutents, forexample one or more C₁₋₃₀ hydrocarbyl substituents.

One preferred class of arylene repeat units is phenylene repeat units,such as phenylene repeat units of formula (VI):

wherein q in each occurrence is independently 0, 1, 2, 3 or 4,optionally 1 or 2; n is 1, 2 or 3; and R³ independently in eachoccurrence is a substituent.

Where present, each R³ may independently be selected from the groupconsisting of:

-   -   alkyl, optionally C₁₋₂₀ alkyl, wherein one or more non-adjacent        C atoms may be replaced with optionally substituted aryl or        heteroaryl, O, S, substituted N, C═O or —COO—, and one or more H        atoms may be replaced with F;    -   aryl and heteroaryl groups that may be unsubstituted or        substituted with one or more substituents, preferably phenyl        substituted with one or more C₁₋₂₀ alkyl groups;    -   a linear or branched chain of aryl or heteroaryl groups, each of        which groups may independently be substituted, for example a        group of formula —(Ar³)_(r) wherein each Ar³ is independently an        aryl or heteroaryl group and r is at least 2, preferably a        branched or linear chain of phenyl groups each of which may be        unsubstituted or substituted with one or more C₁₋₂₀ alkyl        groups; and    -   a crosslinkable-group, for example a group comprising a double        bond such and a vinyl or acrylate group, or a benzocyclobutane        group.

In the case where R³ comprises an aryl or heteroaryl group, or a linearor branched chain of aryl or heteroaryl groups, the or each aryl orheteroaryl group may be substituted with one or more substituents R⁷selected from the group consisting of:

-   -   alkyl, for example C₁₋₂₀ alkyl, wherein one or more non-adjacent        C atoms may be replaced with O, S, substituted N, C═O and —COO—        and one or more H atoms of the alkyl group may be replaced with        F;    -   NR⁹ ₂, OR⁹, SR⁹, SiR⁹ ₃ and    -   fluorine, nitro and cyano;        wherein each R⁹ is independently selected from the group        consisting of alkyl, preferably C₁₋₂₀ alkyl; and aryl or        heteroaryl, preferably phenyl, optionally substituted with one        or more C₁₋₂₀ alkyl groups.

Substituted N, where present, may be —NR⁹— wherein R⁹ is as describedabove.

Preferably, each R³, where present, is independently selected from C₁₋₄₀hydrocarbyl, and is more preferably selected from C₁₋₂₀ alkyl;unusubstituted phenyl; phenyl substituted with one or more C₁₋₂₀ alkylgroups; a linear or branched chain of phenyl groups, wherein each phenylmay be unsubstituted or substituted with one or more substituents; and acrosslinkable group.

If n is 1 then exemplary repeat units of formula (VI) include thefollowing:

A particularly preferred repeat unit of formula (VI) has formula (VIa):

Substituents R³ of formula (VIa) are adjacent to linking positions ofthe repeat unit, which may cause steric hindrance between the repeatunit of formula (VIa) and adjacent repeat units, resulting in the repeatunit of formula (VIa) twisting out of plane relative to one or bothadjacent repeat units.

Exemplary repeat units where n is 2 or 3 include the following:

A preferred repeat unit has formula (VIb):

The two R³ groups of formula (VIb) may cause steric hindrance betweenthe phenyl rings they are bound to, resulting in twisting of the twophenyl rings relative to one another.

A further class of arylene repeat units are optionally substitutedfluorene repeat units, such as repeat units of formula (VII):

wherein R³ in each occurrence is the same or different and is asubstituent as described with reference to formula (VI), and wherein thetwo groups R³ may be linked to form a ring; R⁸ is a substituent; and dis 0, 1, 2 or 3.

The aromatic carbon atoms of the fluorene repeat unit may beunsubstituted, or may be substituted with one or more substituents R⁸.Exemplary substituents R⁸ are alkyl, for example C₁₋₂₀ alkyl, whereinone or more non-adjacent C atoms may be replaced with O, S, NH orsubstituted N, C═O and —COO—, optionally substituted aryl, optionallysubstituted heteroaryl, alkoxy, alkylthio, fluorine, cyano andarylalkyl. Particularly preferred substituents include C₁₋₂₀ alkyl andsubstituted or unsubstituted aryl, for example phenyl. Optionalsubstituents for the aryl include one or more C₁₋₂₀ alkyl groups.

Substituted N, where present, may be —NR^(S)— wherein R⁵ is C₁₋₂₀ alkyl;unsubstituted phenyl; or phenyl substituted with one or more C₁₋₂₀ alkylgroups.

The extent of conjugation of repeat units of formula (VII) to aryl orheteroaryl groups of adjacent repeat units may be controlled by (a)linking the repeat unit through the 3- and/or 6-positions to limit theextent of conjugation across the repeat unit, and/or (b) substitutingthe repeat unit with one or more substituents R⁸ in or more positionsadjacent to the linking positions in order to create a twist with theadjacent repeat unit or units, for example a 2,7-linked fluorenecarrying a C₁₋₂₀ alkyl substituent in one or both of the 3- and6-positions.

The repeat unit of formula (VII) may be an optionally substituted2,7-linked repeat unit of formula (VIIa):

Optionally, the repeat unit of formula (VIIa) is not substituted in aposition adjacent to the 2- or 7-position. Linkage through the 2- and7-positions and absence of substituents adjacent to these linkingpositions provides a repeat unit that is capable of providing arelatively high degree of conjugation across the repeat unit.

The repeat unit of formula (VII) may be an optionally substituted3,6-linked repeat unit of formula (VIIb)

The extent of conjugation across a repeat unit of formula (VIIb) may berelatively low as compared to a repeat unit of formula (VIIa).

Another exemplary arylene repeat unit has formula (VIII):

wherein R³, R⁸ and d are as described with reference to formula (VI) and(VII) above. Any of the R³ groups may be linked to any other of the R³groups to form a ring. The ring so formed may be unsubstituted or may besubstituted with one or more substituents, optionally one or more C₁₋₂₀alkyl groups.

Repeat units of formula (VIII) may have formula (VIIIa) or (VIIIb):

Further arylene co-repeat units include: phenanthrene repeat units;naphthalene repeat units; anthracene repeat units; and perylene repeatunits. Each of these arylene repeat units may be linked to adjacentrepeat units through any two of the aromatic carbon atoms of theseunits. Specific exemplary linkages include 9,10-anthracene;2,6-anthracene; 1,4-naphthalene; 2,6-naphthalene; 2,7-phenanthrene; and2,5-perylene. Each of these repeat units may be substituted orunsubstituted, for example substituted with one or more C₁₋₄₀hydrocarbylgroups.

The polymer may contain one or more hole transporting repeat units.Exemplary hole transporting repeat units may be repeat units ofmaterials having a electron affinity of 2.9 eV or lower and anionisation potential of 5.8 eV or lower, preferably 5.7 eV or lower.

Preferred hole-transporting repeat units are (hetero)arylamine repeatunits, including repeat units of formula (IX):

wherein Ar⁸ and Ar⁹ in each occurrence are independently selected fromsubstituted or unsubstituted aryl or heteroaryl, g is greater than orequal to 1, preferably 1 or 2, R¹³ is H or a substituent, preferably asubstituent, and c and d are each independently 1, 2 or 3.

R¹³, which may be the same or different in each occurrence when g>1, ispreferably selected from the group consisting of alkyl, for exampleC₁₋₂₀ alkyl, Ar¹⁰, a branched or linear chain of Ar¹⁰ groups, or acrosslinkable unit that is bound directly to the N atom of formula (IX)or spaced apart therefrom by a spacer group, wherein Ar¹⁰ in eachoccurrence is independently optionally substituted aryl or heteroaryl.Exemplary spacer groups are C₁₋₂₀ alkyl, phenyl and phenyl-C₁₋₂₀ alkyl.

Any of Ar⁸, Ar⁹ and, if present, Ar¹⁰ in the repeat unit of Formula (IX)may be linked by a direct bond or a divalent linking atom or group toanother of Ar⁸, Ar⁹ and Ar¹⁰. Preferred divalent linking atoms andgroups include O, S; substituted N; and substituted C.

Any of Ar⁸, Ar⁹ and, if present, Ar¹⁰ may be substituted with one ormore substituents. Exemplary substituents are substituents R¹⁰, whereineach R¹⁰ may independently be selected from the group consisting of:

-   -   substituted or unsubstituted alkyl, optionally C₁₋₂₀ alkyl,        wherein one or more non-adjacent C atoms may be replaced with        optionally substituted aryl or heteroaryl, O, S, substituted N,        C═O or —COO— and one or more H atoms may be replaced with F; and    -   a crosslinkable group attached directly to the fluorene unit or        spaced apart therefrom by a spacer group, for example a group        comprising a double bond such and a vinyl or acrylate group, or        a benzocyclobutane group

Preferred repeat units of formula (IX) have formulae 1-3:

In one preferred arrangement, R¹³ is Ar¹⁰ and each of Ar⁸, Ar⁹ and Ar¹⁰are independently and optionally substituted with one or more C₁₋₂₀alkyl groups. Ar⁸, Ar⁹ and Ar¹⁰ are preferably phenyl.

In another preferred arrangement, the central Ar⁹ group of formula (IX)linked to two N atoms is a polycyclic aromatic that may be unsubstitutedor substituted with one or more substituents R¹⁰. Exemplary polycyclicaromatic groups are naphthalene, perylene, anthracene and fluorene.

In another preferred arrangement, Ar⁸ and Ar⁹ are phenyl, each of whichmay be substituted with one or more C₁₋₂₀ alkyl groups, and R¹³ is—(Ar¹⁰)_(r) wherein r is at least 2 and wherein the group —(Ar¹⁰)_(r)forms a linear or branched chain of aromatic or heteroaromatic groups,for example 3,5-diphenylbenzene wherein each phenyl may be substitutedwith one or more C₁₋₂₀ alkyl groups.In another preferred arrangement, c,d and g are each 1 and Ar⁸ and Ar⁹ are phenyl linked by an oxygen atomto form a phenoxazine ring.

Amine repeat units may be provided in a molar amount in the range ofabout 0.5 mol % up to about 50 mol %, optionally about 1-25 mol %,optionally about 1-10 mol %.

The polymer may contain one, two or more different repeat units offormula (IX).

Amine repeat units may provide hole-transporting and/or light-emittingfunctionality. Preferred light-emitting amine repeat units include ablue light-emitting repeat unit of formula (IXa) and a greenlight-emitting repeat unit formula (IXb):

R¹³ of formula (IXa) is preferably a hydrocarbyl, preferably C₁₋₂₀alkyl, phenyl that is unsubstituted or substituted with one or moreC₁₋₂₀ alkyl groups, or a branched or linear chain of phenyl groupswherein each said phenyl group is unsubstituted or substituted with oneor more C₁₋₂₀ alkyl groups.

The repeat unit of formula (IXb) may be unsubstituted or one or more ofthe rings of the repeat unit of formula (IXb) may be substituted withone or more substituents R¹⁵, preferably one or more C₁₋₂₀ alkyl groups.

Light-Emitting Layers

A light-emitting layer of an OLED may be unpatterned, or may bepatterned to form discrete pixels. Each pixel may be further dividedinto subpixels. The light-emitting layer may contain a singlelight-emitting material, for example for a monochrome display or othermonochrome device, or may contain materials emitting different colours,in particular red, green and blue light-emitting materials for afull-colour display.

A light-emitting layer may contain a mixture of more than onelight-emitting material, for example a mixture of light-emittingmaterials that together provide white light emission.

A white-emitting OLED may contain a single, white-emitting layer or maycontain two or more layers that emit different colours which, incombination, produce white light. White light may be produced from acombination of red, green and blue light-emitting materials provided ina single light-emitting layer distributed within two or morelight-emitting layers. In a preferred arrangement, the device has alight-emitting layer comprising a red light-emitting material and alight-emitting layer comprising green and blue light-emitting materials.

The light emitted from a white-emitting OLED may have CIE x coordinateequivalent to that emitted by a black body at a temperature in the rangeof 2500-9000K and a CIE y coordinate within 0.05 or 0.025 of the CIE yco-ordinate of said light emitted by a black body, optionally a CIE xcoordinate equivalent to that emitted by a black body at a temperaturein the range of 2700-4500K.

Exemplary phosphorescent light-emitting materials include metalcomplexes comprising substituted or unsubstituted complexes of formula(X):

ML¹ _(q)L² _(r)L³ _(s)   (X)

wherein M is a metal; each of L¹, L² and L³ is a coordinating group; qis an integer; r and s are each independently 0 or an integer; and thesum of (a. q)+(b. r)+(c.s) is equal to the number of coordination sitesavailable on M, wherein a is the number of coordination sites on L¹, bis the number of coordination sites on L² and c is the number ofcoordination sites on L³.

Heavy elements M induce strong spin-orbit coupling to allow rapidintersystem crossing and emission from triplet or higher states.Suitable heavy metals M include d-block metals, in particular those inrows 2 and 3 i.e. elements 39 to 48 and 72 to 80, in particularruthenium, rhodium, palladium, rhenium, osmium, iridium, platinum andgold. Iridium is particularly preferred.

Exemplary ligands L¹, L² and L³ include carbon or nitrogen donors suchas porphyrin or bidentate ligands of formula (XI):

wherein Ar⁵ and Ar⁶ may be the same or different and are independentlyselected from substituted or unsubstituted aryl or heteroaryl; X¹ and Y¹may be the same or different and are independently selected from carbonor nitrogen; and Ar⁵ and Ar⁶ may be fused together. Ligands wherein X¹is carbon and Y¹ is nitrogen are preferred, in particular ligands inwhich Ar⁵ is a single ring or fused heteroaromatic of N and C atomsonly, for example pyridyl or isoquinoline, and Ar⁶ is a single ring orfused aromatic, for example phenyl or naphthyl.

To achieve red emission, Ar⁵ are selected from phenyl, fluorene,naphthyl. Ar⁶ are selected from quinoline, isoquinoline, thiophene,benzothiophene.

To achieve green emission, Ar⁵ are selected from phenyl or fluorene. Ar⁶are selected from pyridine.

To achieve blue emission, Ar⁵ are selected from phenyl. Ar⁶ are selectedfrom imidazole, triazole, tetrazole.

Examples of bidentate ligands are illustrated below:

Each of Ar⁵ and Ar⁶ may carry one or more substituents. Two or more ofthese substituents may be linked to form a ring, for example an aromaticring.

Other ligands suitable for use with d-block elements includediketonates, in particular acetylacetonate (acac); triarylphosphines andpyridine, each of which may be substituted.

Exemplary substituents include groups R¹³ as described above withreference to Formula (IX). Particularly preferred substituents includefluorine or trifluoromethyl which may be used to blue-shift the emissionof the complex, for example as disclosed in WO 02/45466, WO 02/44189, US2002-117662 and US 2002-182441; alkyl or alkoxy groups, for exampleC₁₋₂₀ alkyl or alkoxy, which may be as disclosed in JP 2002-324679;carbazole which may be used to assist hole transport to the complex whenused as an emissive material, for example as disclosed in WO 02/81448;and dendrons which may be used to obtain or enhance solutionprocessability of the metal complex, for example as disclosed in WO02/66552.

A light-emitting dendrimer typically comprises a light-emitting corebound to one or more dendrons, wherein each dendron comprises abranching point and two or more dendritic branches. Preferably, thedendron is at least partially conjugated, and at least one of thebranching points and dendritic branches comprises an aryl or heteroarylgroup, for example a phenyl group. In one arrangement, the branchingpoint group and the branching groups are all phenyl, and each phenyl mayindependently be substituted with one or more substituents, for examplealkyl or alkoxy.

A dendron may have optionally substituted formula (XII)

wherein BP represents a branching point for attachment to a core and G₁represents first generation branching groups.

The dendron may be a first, second, third or higher generation dendron.G₁ may be substituted with two or more second generation branchinggroups G₂, and so on, as in optionally substituted formula (XIIa):

wherein u is 0 or 1; v is 0 if u is 0 or may be 0 or 1 if u is 1; BPrepresents a branching point for attachment to a core and G₁, G₂ and G₃represent first, second and third generation dendron branching groups.In one preferred embodiment, each of BP and G₁, G₂ . . . G₁₁ is phenyl,and each phenyl BP, G₁, G₂ . . . G_(n−1) is a 3,5-linked phenyl.

A preferred dendron is a substituted or unsubstituted dendron of formula(XIIb):

wherein * represents an attachment point of the dendron to a core.

BP and/or any group G may be substituted with one or more substituents,for example one or more C₁₋₂₀ alkyl or alkoxy groups.

Phosphorescent light-emitting materials may be provided in alight-emitting layer with a host material. The host material may be ahost polymer of the invention.

The phosphorescent light-emitting material may be physically mixed withthe host polymer or may be covalently bound thereto. The phosphorescentlight-emitting material may be provided in a side-chain, main chain orend-group of the polymer. Where the phosphorescent material is providedin a polymer side-chain, the phosphorescent material may be directlybound to the backbone of the polymer or spaced apart there from by aspacer group, for example a C₁₋₂₀ alkyl spacer group in which one ormore non-adjacent C atoms may be replaced by O or S. It will thereforebe appreciated that a composition of the present invention may consistof or may comprise a polymer of the invention comprising repeat units offormula (I) with a phosphorescent light-emitting material bound to thepolymer.

In the case where one or more phosphorescent light-emitting materialsare mixed with a host material, the phosphorescent light-emittingmaterial(s) may make up about 0.05 wt % up to about 50 wt % of ahost/phosphorescent light-emitting material composition.

In the case where one or more phosphorescent light-emitting materialsare bound to a host material, for example a host polymer, thephosphorescent light-emitting material(s) may make up about 0.01-50 mol% of the material.

If more than two phosphorescent materials of different colours are usedwith a single host material then the emitter with the highest tripletenergy level may be provided in a greater amount than the other emitteror emitters, for example in an amount of at least two times or at least5 times the weight percentage of each of the other emitter or emitters.

Charge Transporting and Charge Blocking Layers

In the case of an OLED, a hole transporting layer may be providedbetween the anode and the light-emitting layer or layers. Likewise, anelectron transporting layer may be provided between the cathode and thelight-emitting layer or layers.

Similarly, an electron blocking layer may be provided between the anodeand the light-emitting layer and a hole blocking layer may be providedbetween the cathode and the light-emitting layer. Transporting andblocking layers may be used in combination. Depending on its HOMO andLUMO levels, a single layer may both transport one of holes andelectrons and block the other of holes and electrons.

A charge-transporting layer or charge-blocking layer may becross-linked, particularly if a layer overlying that charge-transportingor charge-blocking layer is deposited from a solution. The crosslinkablegroup used for this crosslinking may be a crosslinkable group comprisinga reactive double bond such and a vinyl or acrylate group, or abenzocyclobutane group.

If present, a hole transporting layer located between the anode and thelight-emitting layers preferably has a HOMO level of less than or equalto 5.5 eV, more preferably around 4.8-5.5 eV or 5.1-5.3 eV as measuredby cyclic voltammetry. The HOMO level of the hole transport layer may beselected so as to be within 0.2 eV, optionally within 0.1 eV, of anadjacent layer (such as a light-emitting layer) in order to provide asmall barrier to hole transport between these layers.

If present, an electron transporting layer located between thelight-emitting layers and cathode preferably has a LUMO level of around2.5-3.5 eV as measured by cyclic voltammetry. For example, a layer of asilicon monoxide or silicon dioxide or other thin dielectric layerhaving thickness in the range of 0.2-2nm may be provided between thelight-emitting layer nearest the cathode and the cathode. HOMO and LUMOlevels may be measured using cyclic voltammetry.

A hole transporting layer may contain a homopolymer or copolymercomprising a repeat unit of formula (IX) as described above, for examplea copolymer comprising one or more amine repeat units of formula (IX)and one or more arylene repeat units, for example one or more arylenerepeat units selected from formulae (VI), (VII) and (VIII).

An electron transporting layer may contain a polymer comprising a chainof optionally substituted arylene repeat units, such as a chain offluorene repeat units.

If a hole- or electron-transporting layer is adjacent a light-emittinglayer containing a phosphorescent material then the T₁ energy level ofthe material or materials of that layer are preferably higher than thatof the phosphorescent emitter in the adjacent light-emitting layer.

Hole Injection Layers

A conductive hole injection layer, which may be formed from a conductiveorganic or inorganic material, may be provided between the anode 101 andthe light-emitting layer 103 of an OLED as illustrated in FIG. 1 toassist hole injection from the anode into the layer or layers ofsemiconducting polymer. Examples of doped organic hole injectionmaterials include optionally substituted, doped poly(ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDT), in particular PEDT doped with a charge-balancingpolyacid such as polystyrene sulfonate (PSS) as disclosed in EP 0901176and EP 0947123, polyacrylic acid or a fluorinated sulfonic acid, forexample Nafion®; polyaniline as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,723,873 andU.S. Pat. No. 5,798,170; and optionally substituted polythiophene orpoly(thienothiophene). Examples of conductive inorganic materialsinclude transition metal oxides such as VOx MoOx and RuOx as disclosedin Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics (1996), 29(11), 2750-2753.

Cathode

The cathode 105 is selected from materials that have a workfunctionallowing injection of electrons into the light-emitting layer of theOLED. Other factors influence the selection of the cathode such as thepossibility of adverse interactions between the cathode and thelight-emitting material. The cathode may consist of a single materialsuch as a layer of aluminium. Alternatively, it may comprise a pluralityof conductive materials such as metals, for example a bilayer of a lowworkfunction material and a high workfunction material such as calciumand aluminium, for exampleas disclosed in WO 98/10621. The cathode maycomprise elemental barium, for example as disclosed in WO 98/57381,Appl. Phys. Lett. 2002, 81(4), 634 and WO 02/84759. The cathode maycomprise a thin layer of metal compound, in particular an oxide orfluoride of an alkali or alkali earth metal, between the organic layersof the device and one or more conductive cathode layers to assistelectron injection, for example lithium fluoride as disclosed in WO00/48258; barium fluoride as disclosed in Appl. Phys. Lett. 2001, 79(5),2001; and barium oxide. In order to provide efficient injection ofelectrons into the device, the cathode preferably has a workfunction ofless than 3.5 eV, more preferably less than 3.2 eV, most preferably lessthan 3 eV. Work functions of metals can be found in, for example,Michaelson, J. Appl. Phys. 48(11), 4729, 1977.

The cathode may be opaque or transparent. Transparent cathodes areparticularly advantageous for active matrix devices because emissionthrough a transparent anode in such devices is at least partiallyblocked by drive circuitry located underneath the emissive pixels. Atransparent cathode comprises a layer of an electron injecting materialthat is sufficiently thin to be transparent. Typically, the lateralconductivity of this layer will be low as a result of its thinness. Inthis case, the layer of electron injecting material is used incombination with a thicker layer of transparent conducting material suchas indium tin oxide.

It will be appreciated that a transparent cathode device need not have atransparent anode (unless, of course, a fully transparent device isdesired), and so the transparent anode used for bottom-emitting devicesmay be replaced or supplemented with a layer of reflective material suchas a layer of aluminium. Examples of transparent cathode devices aredisclosed in, for example, GB 2348316.

Encapsulation

Organic optoelectronic devices tend to be sensitive to moisture andoxygen. Accordingly, the substrate preferably has good barrierproperties for prevention of ingress of moisture and oxygen into thedevice. The substrate is commonly glass, however alternative substratesmay be used, in particular where flexibility of the device is desirable.For example, the substrate may comprise one or more plastic layers, forexample a substrate of alternating plastic and dielectric barrier layersor a laminate of thin glass and plastic.

The device may be encapsulated with an encapsulant (not shown) toprevent ingress of moisture and oxygen. Suitable encapsulants include asheet of glass, films having suitable barrier properties such as silicondioxide, silicon monoxide, silicon nitride or alternating stacks ofpolymer and dielectric or an airtight container. In the case of atransparent cathode device, a transparent encapsulating layer such assilicon monoxide or silicon dioxide may be deposited to micron levels ofthickness, although in one preferred embodiment the thickness of such alayer is in the range of 20-300 nm. A getter material for absorption ofany atmospheric moisture and/or oxygen that may permeate through thesubstrate or encapsulant may be disposed between the substrate and theencapsulant.

Formulation Processing

A formulation suitable for forming a charge-transporting orlight-emitting layer may be formed from the composition or the polymerof the invention, any further components of the layer such aslight-emitting dopants, and one or more suitable solvents.

The formulation may be a solution of the composition or the polymer andany other components in the one or more solvents, or may be a dispersionin the one or more solvents in which one or more components are notdissolved. Preferably, the formulation is a solution.

Solvents suitable for dissolving semiconducting polymers, particularlypolymers comprising alkyl substituents, include benzenes substitutedwith one or more C₁₋₁₀ alkyl or C₁₋₁₀ alkoxy groups, for exampletoluene, xylenes and methylanisoles.

Particularly preferred solution deposition techniques including printingand coating techniques such spin-coating and inkjet printing.

Spin-coating is particularly suitable for devices wherein patterning ofthe light-emitting layer is unnecessary—for example for lightingapplications or simple monochrome segmented displays.

Inkjet printing is particularly suitable for high information contentdisplays, in particular full colour displays. A device may be inkjetprinted by providing a patterned layer over the first electrode anddefining wells for printing of one colour (in the case of a monochromedevice) or multiple colours (in the case of a multicolour, in particularfull colour device). The patterned layer is typically a layer ofphotoresist that is patterned to define wells as described in, forexample, EP 0880303.

As an alternative to wells, the ink may be printed into channels definedwithin a patterned layer. In particular, the photoresist may bepatterned to form channels which, unlike wells, extend over a pluralityof pixels and which may be closed or open at the channel ends.

Other solution deposition techniques include dip-coating, roll printingand screen printing.

EXAMPLES Monomer Example 1

Synthesis of Monomer Example 1

A 1 L 3 neck flask fitted with condenser, N₂ inlet/bubbler and overheadstirrer was charged with 2,4-bis(3-bromophenyl)-6-chloro-1,3,5-triazine(15 g, 35 mmol), 3,5-bis(4-tert-octylphenyl)-4-methylbenzene boronicacid pinacol ester (7 g, 12 mmol), toluene (400 mL) and ethanol (133mL). The slurry was degassed with nitrogen for 1 h before a degassedaqueous solution of potassium carbonate (3.6 g in 133 mL) was added.Degassing continued for 5 mins before tetrakis triphenylphosphine (0.52g, 0.45 mmol) was added and the mixture was heated to 38° C. (oil bathtemp). After 96 h LCMS indicated the product was forming and a further 7g of the pinacol boronic ester in 50 mL degassed toluene was addedfollowed by a further 3.6 g base (as a solid) and a further 0.52 g ofcatalyst. The reaction was monitored by HPLC and further portions ofpinacol boronic ester, base and catalsyst were added and the temperaturewas increased to 50° C. (oil bath temp) until the reaction did notprogress further. The reaction was cooled to r.t., the layers wereseparated and the aqueous phase was extracted with toluene (2×100 mL).The combined organic phases were washed with water, dried with magnesiumsulphate, filtered and concentrated to yield a yellow oil. The oil wascolumned using a Biotage Isolera LS flash column system on silicaeluting with 15-35% ethyl acetate in hexanes (v/v) and then 10-23% DCMin hexanes (v/v). The product-containing fractions were combined andrecrystallised from toluene/IPA to give the product as a white powder(6.91 g, 23%). HPLC indicated a purity of 99.98%.

1H NMR (referenced to CDC13 peak at 7.26 ppm): 8.83 (2H, s), 8.66 (2H,d), 8.58 (2H, s), 7.72 (2H, d), 7.51 (4H, d), 7.43 (2H, t), 7.38 (4H,d), 2.16 (3H, s), 1.81 (4H, s), 1.47 (12H, s), 0.78 (18H, s)

Monomer Example 2

Synthesis of Monomer Example 2

A 1 L 3 neck flask fitted with condenser, N₂ inlet/bubbler and overheadstirrer was charged with 2,4-bis(3-bromophenyl)-6-chloro-1,3,5-triazine(20 g, 47 mmol), 3-(4-hexylphenyl)benzene boronic acid pinacol ester(5.7 g, 15.8 mmol), toluene (400 mL) and ethanol (133 mL). The slurrywas degassed with nitrogen for 1 h before a degassed aqueous solution ofpotassium carbonate (5 g in 133 mL) was added. Degassing continued for 5mins before tetrakis triphenylphosphine (0.7 g, 0.6 mmol) was added andthe mixture was heated to 36° C. (oil bath temp). After 48 h GCMSindicated the product was forming and a further 5.7 g of the pinacolboronic ester in 60 mL degassed toluene was added and the oil bathtemperature was increased to 38° C. The reaction was monitored by GCMSand the oil bath temperature was increased to 50° C. When there was >90%conversion to product as indicated by GCMS the reaction was cooled tor.t. The layers were separated and the aqueous phase was extracted withtoluene (2×100 mL). The combined organic phases were washed with water,dried with magnesium sulphate, filtered and concentrated to yield ayellow oil. The oil was columned using a Biotage Isolera LS flash columnsystem on silica eluting with 10-40% DCM in hexanes (v/v). Theproduct-containing fractions were combined and recrystallised fromtoluene/IPA to give the product as a white powder (11.5 g, 59%). HPLCindicated a purity of 99.8%.

1H NMR (referenced to CDCl3 peak at 7.26 ppm): 8.91 (1H, s), 8.90 (2H,s), 8.68 (3H, d), 7.80 (1H, d), 7.73 (2H, d), 7.61-7.65 (3H, m), 7.45(2H, t), 7.33 (2H, d), 2.70 (2H, t), 1.67-1.71 (2H, m), 1.33-1.41 (6H,m), 0.91 (3H, t).

Monomer Example 3

Synthesis of Monomer Example 3

A 1 L 3 neck flask fitted with condenser, N₂ inlet/bubbler and overheadstirrer was charged with 2,4-bis(3-bromophenyl)-6-chloro-1,3,5-triazine(15 g, 35 mmol), 3,5-bis(4-tert-octylphenyl)-4-methylbenzene boronicacid pinacol ester (7 g, 12 mmol), toluene (400 mL) and ethanol (133mL). The slurry was degassed with nitrogen for 1 h before a degassedaqueous solution of potassium carbonate (3.6 g in 133 mL) was added.Degassing continued for 5 mins before tetrakis triphenylphosphine (0.52g, 0.45 mmol) was added and the mixture was heated to 38° C. (oil bathtemp). After 96 h LCMS indicated the product was forming and a further 7g of the pinacol boronic ester in 50 mL degassed toluene was addedfollowed by a further 3.6 g base (as a solid) and a further 0.52 g ofcatalyst. The reaction was monitored by HPLC and further portions ofpinacol boronic ester, base and catalsyst were added and the temperaturewas increased to 50° C. (oil bath temp) until the reaction did notprogress further. The reaction was cooled to r.t., the layers wereseparated and the aqueous phase was extracted with toluene (2×100 mL).The combined organic phases were washed with water, dried with magnesiumsulphate, filtered and concentrated to yield a yellow oil. The oil wascolumned using a Biotage Isolera LS flash column system on silicaeluting with 15-35% ethyl acetate in hexanes (v/v) and then 10-23% DCMin hexanes (v/v). The product-containing fractions were combined andrecrystallised from toluene/IPA to give the product as a white powder(6.91 g, 23%). HPLC indicated a purity of 99.98%.

1H NMR (referenced to CDCl3 peak at 7.26 ppm): 8.83 (2H, s), 8.66 (2H,d), 8.58 (2H, s), 7.72 (2H, d), 7.51 (4H, d), 7.43 (2H, t), 7.38 (4H,d), 2.16 (3H, s), 1.81 (4H, s), 1.47 (12H, s), 0.78 (18H, s)

Polymer Examples

Polymers were prepared by Suzuki polymerisation as described in WO00/53656 of monomers illustrated below in the amounts shown in Table 1.

TABLE 1 Diester Dibromo monomers monomers Polymer (mol %) (mol %) Mz MwMp Mn Pd Comparative A (50) B (5), 404,000 207,000 245,000 17,500 11.82Polymer 1 Comparative monomer 1 (45) Polymer A (50) B (5), 229,000105,000 142,000 10,000 11.07 Example 1 Monomer Example 1 (45) Polymer C(50) B (15), 639,000 310,000 381,000 13,000 23.15 Example 2 MonomerExample 1 (35) Polymer A (50) B (25) 342,000 161,000 242,000 6,500 24.91Example 3 Monomer Example 1 (25) Polymer A (50) B (25.5) 270,000 124,000173,000 6,900 17.90 Example 4 Monomer Example 2 (24.5) Polymer A (50) B(16) 370,000 180,000 240,000 12,000 14.30 Example 5 Monomer Example 3(34)

Molar percentages of Monomer Examples 1, 2 and 3 in Polymer Examples 3-5were adjusted to provide a constant weight percentage of the repeatunits derived from these monomers.

It will be appreciated that the extent of conjugation of Polymer Example2 is greater than that of Polymer Example 1, which contains aconjugation-breaking repeat unit derived from Monomer A.

Composition Examples

A composition comprising the Polymer Example 1, the Polymer Example 2 orthe Comparative Polymer 1 as described above and 5 wt % of BluePhosphorescent Emitter 1, illustrated below, was dissolved in o-xylenefor casting as a film by spin-coating.

Blue Phosphorescent Emitter 1

The core of Blue Phosphorescent Emitter 1 is disclosed in WO2004/101707.Formation of dendrons is described in WO 02/066552.

Synthesis of Blue Phosphorescent Emitter 1

Stage 1:

fac-Tris(1-methyl-5-phenyl-3-propyl-[1,2,4]triazolyl)iridium-(III) (1.1g) (Shih-Chun Lo et al., Chem. Mater. 2006, 18, 5119-5129) (1.1 g) wasdissolved in DCM (100 mL) under a flow of nitrogen. N-Bromosuccinimide(0.93 g) was added as a solid and the mixture was stirred at roomtemperature with protection from light. After 24 h HPLC analysis showed˜94% product and ˜6% dibromide intermediate. A further 50 mg of NBS wasadded and stirring continued for 16 hours. A further 50 mg of NBS wasadded and stirring continued for 24 h. HPLC indicated over 99% product.Warm water was added and stirred for 0.5 h. The layers were separatedand the organic layer passed through a plug of celite eluting with DCM.The filtrate was concentrated to ˜15 mL and hexane was added to the DCMsolution to precipitate the product as a yellow solid in 80% yield.

Stage 2:

Stage 1 material (8.50 g) and3,5-bis(4-tert-butylphenyl)phenyl-1-boronic acid pinacol ester (15.50 g)were dissolved in toluene (230 mL). The solution was purged withnitrogen for 1 h before 2-dicyclohexylphosphino-2′,6′-dimethoxybiphenyl(66 mg) and tris(dibenzylidene)dipalladium (75 mg) were added using 10mL of nitrogen-purged toluene. A 20wt % solution of tetraethylammoniumhydroxide in water (60 mL) was added in one portion and the mixture asstirred for 20 h with the heating bath set to 105° C. T.L.C. analysisindicated all the stage material had been consumed and only onefluorescent spot was observed. The reaction mixture was cooled andfiltered into a separating funnel. The layers were separated and theaqueous layer extracted with toluene. The organic extracts were washedwith water, dried with magnesium sulphate, filtered and concentrated toyield the crude product as a yellow/orange solid. Pure compound wasobtained by column chromatography eluting with a gradient of ethylacetate in hexanes followed by precipitation from DCM/methanol. HPLCindicated a purity of 99.75% and a yield of 80% (11.32 g)

1H NMR (referenced to CDCl3): 7.83 (3H, d), 7.76 (6H, s), 7.73 (3H, s)7.63 (12H, d) 7.49 (12H, d), 7.21 (3H, dd), 6.88 (3H, d), 4.28 (9H, s),2.25 (3H, m), 1.98 (3H, m), 1.4-1.5 (57H, m), 1.23 (3H, m), 0.74 (9H,t).

Properties of films of compositions described above are shown in Table2. The photoluminescent quantum yield (PLQY) of the films are comparablefor compositions containing Polymer Example 1 and Polymer Example 2,whereas the PLQY values of the composition containing ComparativePolymer 1 is much lower. Without wishing to be bound by any theory, itis believed that the para-linked triphenyltriazine in ComparativePolymer 1 provides more extended conjugation of the polymer backbone,which results in a lower triplet energy level and quenching of thephosphorescence, compared to increased triplet levels of the polymers ofthe invention provided by the meta-linked triphenyltriazine. PolymerExample 1 has a lowest triplet excited state energy (T₁) value asmeasured by time resolved photoluminescence spectroscopy of 2.76 eV,whereas the T₁ value for Comparative Polymer 1 is 2.60 eV.

TABLE 2 Polymer PLQY (%) CIE x CIE y Polymer Example 1 80 0.159 0.295Polymer Example 2 83 0.157 0.293 Comparative 66 0.160 0.310 Polymer 1

Device Examples 1 and 2

Organic light-emitting devices having the following structure wereprepared:

ITO (147 nm)/HIL (34 nm)/HTL (22 nm)/LE/Cathode,

wherein ITO is an indium-tin oxide anode; HIL is a hole-injecting layer;HTL is a hole-transporting layer; LE is a light-emitting layercomprising the host polymer of the invention and a blue phosphorescentdopant; and the cathode comprises a layer of metal fluoride in contactwith the light-emitting layer and a layer of aluminium formed over thelayer of metal fluoride.

Devices containing Polymer Examples 1 and 2 as host polymer showapproximately double the half life (time taken for brightness to fall to50% of an initial value at constant current) and similar conductivity todevices containing of Comparative Polymer 1 as a host polymer.

Surprisingly, it was found that the conductivity is not affected by theincreased triplet levels of the polymers of the invention. Voltage ofDevice Example 1 containing Polymer Example 1 at a current density of 10mA/cm2 was 5.91 V and was 5.99 V for Comparative Device 1 containingComparative Polymer 1.

Device Examples 3-5

Organic light-emitting devices having the following structure wereprepared:

ITO (147 nm)/HIL (34 nm)/HTL (22 nm)/LE/Cathode,

wherein ITO is an indium-tin oxide anode; HIL is a hole-injecting layer;HTL is red light emitting hole-transporting layer; LE is alight-emitting layer comprising the host polymer of the invention; andthe cathode comprises a layer of metal fluoride in contact with thelight-emitting layer and a layer of aluminium formed over the layer ofmetal fluoride.

A glass substrate carrying ITO was cleaned with UV/Ozone treatment and alayer of a conductive polymer available from Plextronics Inc was formedby spin-coating.

A hole-transporting layer was formed by spin-coating Hole-TransportingPolymer 1 followed by crosslinking of the polymer.

A light-emitting layer was formed by spin-coating Formulation containinga host polymer, Blue Phosphorescent Emitter 2 and Green PhosphorescentEmitter 1 as set out in Table 3.

TABLE 3 Blue Green Device Phosphorescent Phosphorescent Example Host (wt%) Emitter 2 (wt %) Emitter 1 (wt %) 3A Polymer Example 3 35 1 (64) 3BPolymer Example 3 40 1 (59) 4A Polymer Example 4 35 1 (64) 4B PolymerExample 4 40 1 (59) 5A Polymer Example 5 35 1 (64) 5B Polymer Example 540 1 (59)

Blue Phosphorescent Emitter 2

Green Phosphorescent Emitter 1

Hole-Transporting Polymer 1 was formed by Suzuki polymerisation asdescribed in WO 00/53656 of the following monomers:

Device performance is set out in Tables 4-6. Polymers 4 and 5 containingrepeat units with bulky substituents derived from Monomers 2 and 3respectively produce higher efficiency (Table 5) and lower drive voltageand LT70 (Table 6) than Polymer 3 containing repeat units derived fromMonomer 1. LT70 is the time taken for luminance to decay to 70% of aninitial value at constant current.

TABLE 4 Efficiency Device CIE (x) CIE (y) (lm/W) CCT (K) CRI DUV 3A 0.400.43 331.20 3758.87 73.90 0.02 4A 0.44 0.43 329.20 3067.67 73.50 0.0095A 0.42 0.42 325.10 3342.76 73.80 0.010 3B 0.41 0.40 308.00 3314.0768.90 0.00 4B 0.44 0.41 319.90 2988.02 71.90 0.005 5B 0.419 0.41 315.43320.55 72.1 0.006

TABLE 5 V J V Lm/W Cd/A EQE at 1 at 1 at 10 Eff. Eff. at 1 Max De-kcd/m² kcd/m² ma/cm² at 1 at 1 kcd/m² EQE vice (V) (mA/cm²) (V) kcd/m²kcd/m² (%) (%) 3A 4.95 3.80 5.83 16.91 26.62 11.53 12.27 3B 4.6 3.605.46 19.11 28 12.51 12.86 4A 4.51 3.50 5.22 19.69 28.35 12.68 13.07 4B4.85 4.70 5.56 13.65 21.2 9.97 11.03 5A 4.5 4.00 5.29 17.61 25.26 11.5112.08 5B 4.5 3.60 532 19.32 27.77 12.82 13.22

TABLE 6 LT70 J Luminance dV at Device (hours) (mA/cm²) (cd/m²) T70 3A20.594 3.29 1000.0 0.39 4A 30 3.12 1000.0 0.40 5A 34.385 3.08 1000.000.39 3B 15.342 4.24 1000.0 0.48 4B 22.149 3.50 1000.0 0.35 5B 35.4 3.141000.00 0.39

Photostability

An improvement in photo stability has also been achieved with thepolymers of the invention, as shown in FIG. 2. The photo stability ofbinary blends of host polymer (64 wt %) and Blue Phosphorescent Emitter1 (36 wt %) was measured as described below: Samples were fabricated bydepositing the blend directly onto a glass substrate using the methoddescribed above to form a film approximately 75 nm in thickness. Thefilms were then encapsulated under an inert atmosphere. The samples werephoto-excited with 405 nm light using a diode laser and the resultantemission detected at normal incidence using a fibre-coupledspectrometer. The intensity of the exciting beam was varied betweensamples such that the initial flux of emitted light was approximatelyequal. The time taken for the emission to drop to 70% of its startingvalue was then measured. Without wishing to be bound by any theory, itis believed that the improved stability of the polymers of the inventionstems from decreased back-transfer of triplets from the emitter to thehost polymer due, to their increased triplet levels.

Although the present invention has been described in terms of specificexemplary embodiments, it will be appreciated that variousmodifications, alterations and/or combinations of features disclosedherein will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departingfrom the scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims.

1. A composition comprising a polymer and a phosphorescent materialwherein the polymer comprises repeat units of formula (I):

wherein A is a heteroaryl group containing a nitrogen atom, and A may beunusubstituted or substituted with one or more substituents; R¹ in eachoccurrence is independently a substituent; and n is 0, 1, 2, 3 or
 4. 2.A composition according to claim 1 wherein A is selected from the groupconsisting of triazine, pyrimidine, pyridine, triazole and oxadiazole.3. A composition according to claim 1 or 2 wherein A is substituted withat least one substituent R².
 4. A composition according to claim 3wherein each R² is independently a C₁₋₄₀ hydrocarbyl.
 5. A compositionaccording to claim 3 wherein the repeat unit of formula (I) has formula(Ia):

wherein: X in each occurrence is independently selected from N and CR¹²wherein R¹² in each occurrence is independently H or a substituent, withthe proviso that at least one X is N; R² is a substituent; and m is 0or
 1. 6. A composition according to claim 5 wherein each X is N.
 7. Acomposition according to claim 1 wherein the polymer comprises one ormore co-repeat units.
 8. A composition according to claim 7 wherein thepolymer comprises an arylene co-repeat unit that may be unsubstituted orsubstituted with one or more substituents.
 9. A composition according toclaim 1 wherein the one or more co-repeat units include aconjugation-breaking repeat unit that does not provide any conjugationpath between repeat units adjacent to the conjugation-breaking repeatunit.
 10. A composition according to claim 9 comprising one or moreco-repeat units of formula (II):

wherein: Ar¹ in each occurrence independently represent an aryl orheteroaryl group that may be unsubstituted or substituted with one ormore substituents; and Sp represents a spacer group comprising at leastone carbon or silicon atom.
 11. A composition according to claim 1wherein the phosphorescent material is mixed with the polymer.
 12. Acomposition according to claim 1 wherein the phosphorescent material iscovalently bound to the polymer.
 13. A composition according to claim 1wherein the phosphorescent material has a photoluminescent spectrum witha peak in the range of 420-490 nm.
 14. A formulation comprising acomposition according to claim 1 and at least one solvent.
 15. Anorganic light-emitting device comprising an anode, a cathode and alight-emitting layer between the anode and cathode wherein thelight-emitting layer comprises a composition according to claim
 1. 16. Apolymer comprising a repeat unit of formula (III):

wherein: R² is H or a substituent; R¹ in each occurrence isindependently a substituent; and n is 0, 1, 2, 3 or
 4. 17. A polymeraccording to claim 16 wherein R² is an aromatic ring or a branched orlinear chain of aromatic rings, wherein each ring may be unsubstitutedor substituted with one or more substituents R⁴.
 18. A method of forminga polymer comprising the step of polymerising a monomer of formula (IV):

wherein LG is a leaving group capable of leaving in a coupling reactionto form a carbon-carbon bond with an aromatic or heteroaromatic group,and wherein R¹, R² and n are as defined in claim
 1. 19. A methodaccording to claim 18, wherein each LG is independently selected fromthe group consisting of halogens, preferably bromine or iodine; boronicacids; boronic esters; sulfonic acids; and sulfonic esters.
 20. A methodaccording to claim 19 wherein the polymerisation is carried out in thepresence of a metal catalyst.